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четвер, 17 вересня 2015 р.

Ukrainians illegally detained in Russia: The “Chechen” Case

Mykola Karpyuk (50)
and Stanislav Klikh (41) are being accused by the Russian authorities of taking
part in the first Chechen war (1994-1996) and killing Russian soldiers.
Although in fact some activists of the Ukrainian radical movement “UNA UNSO” visited
Chechnya and, according to unconfirmed information, were members of armed
groups of Chechen rebels, neither Karpyuk nor Klikh have ever taken part in the
Chechen conflict. The investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is
notorious for accusing Ukrainians in fighting in Chechnya during the first
Chechen war. Such fake accusations have absolutely no evidential basis behind
it. Recently, even Ukrainian Prime Minister Yatseniuk was mentioned as a former
member of a Chechen armed groups. The absurdity of this accusation is obvious
and can be easily proved by facts.

Mykola Karpiuk
(born 1964) is a Ukrainian civil activist who has been active in politics since
the early 1990s. He played an active part in Ukraine’s recent Revolution as
part of Right Sector. He was arrested in Russia on March 21, 2014 under unclear
circumstances. His family and friends believe him to have been kidnapped by the FSB from the territory of Ukraine
(namely Ukrainian-Russian border in Chernihiv Oblast). He is being kept in an investigative
temporary detention center in Grozny (Chechnya). Karpiuk is facing 15 years in
prison for the following accusation: Art. 317 (attempted murder of a police
officer) and s. 1. Art. 209 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“Creating a stable
armed group (gang) to attack the citizens or organizations, and implementation
of the management of the group”). Russian investigative bodies claim that he
was a participant of the Chechen war. But Karpiuk’s family and lawyer deny this
claiming that he indeed was a fighter, but not on the territory of the Russian
Federation, he participated in the conflicts of 1990ies in Abkhazia and
Transnistria. The Ukrainian consul has not been allowed to meet with Mykola
Karpyuk.

Ukrainian
historian and journalist Stanislav Klikh (born 1974) was arrested in Russia on
August 11, 2014 during a private visit to the city of Orel. After that he was
supposedly transferred to prisons in Yessentuki, Pyatigorsk and Grozny, being
accused by Russian authorities of participation in the “Right Sector” movement.
He is facing charges on the basis of the same “Chechen case” as Mykola Karpiuk.
The Ukrainian consul has not been allowed to meet with Stanislav Klikh.

On September 15, 2015 the Russian court in
Grozny officially started the trial in their case.